Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

I entertained no doubt, therefore, that among other fancies he was engaged in re-making the brazen speaking head of Roger Bacon and Albertus. Many persons might have felt alarmed at the peculiarity of my situation; but being accustomed to mingle with eccentric characters, and having no fear from any pretensions of the black art, I was infinitely gratified by all I saw.

Having stated the reports which I had heard, relative to his wonderful discoveries, I told him frankly that mine was a visit of curiosity, and stated that, if what I had heard was matter of fact, the researches of the ancient chemists had been unjustly derided. He then gave me a history of his studies, mentioned some men whom I had happened to know in London, who he alleged had assured him that they had made gold. That having in consequence examined the works of the ancient alchemists, and discovered the key which they had studiously concealed from the multitude, he had pursued their system under the influence of new lights; and after suffering numerous disappointments, owing to the ambiguity with which they described their processes, he had, at length, happily succeeded; had made gold, and could make as much more as he pleased, even to the extent of paying off the national debt in the coin of the realm.

I yielded to the declaration, expressed my satisfaction at so extraordinary a discovery, and asked him to oblige me so far as to show me some of the precious

metal which he had made.

"Not so," said he; "I will show it to no one. I made Lord Liverpool the offer, that if he would introduce me to the King, I would show it to his Majesty; but Lord Liverpool insolently declined, on the ground that there was no precedent; and I am therefore determined that the secret shall die with me. It is true that, in order to avenge myself of such contempt, I made a communication to the French ambassador, Prince Polignac, and offered to go to France, and transfer to the French government the entire advantages of the discovery; but after deluding me, and shuffling for some time, I found it necessary to treat him with the same contempt as the others."

I expressed my convictions in regard to the double dealing of men in office.

"O," said he, "as to that, every court in Europe well knows that I have made

the discovery, and they are all in confederacy against me; lest, by giving it to any one, I should make that country master of all the rest-the world, Sir," he exclaimed with great emotion," is in my hands and my power."

Satisfied with this announcement of the discovery of the philosopher's stone, I now enquired about the sublime alkahest or universal solvent, and whether he had succeeded in deciphering the enigmatical descriptions of the ancient writers on that most curious topic.

66

ef

Certainly," he replied: "I succeeded in that several years ago." "Then," I proceeded, "have you fected the other great desideratum, the fixing of mercury? ?"

"Than that process," said he, " there is nothing more easy: at the same time it is proper I should inform you that there are a class of impostors, who, mistaking the ancient writers, pretend it can be done by heat; but I can assure you, it can only be effected by water."

I then besought him to do me the favor to show me some of his fixed mer cury, having once seen some which had been fixed by cold.

This proposition, however, he declined, because he said he had refused others. "That you may however be satisfied that I have made great discoveries, here is a bottle of oil, which I have purified, and rendered as transparent as spring water. I was offered £10,000 for this discovery; but I am so neglected, and so conspired against, that I am determined it and all my other discoveries shall die with me."

I now enquired, whether he had been alarmed by the ignorance of the people in the country, so as to shut himself up in so unusual a manner.

"No," he replied, "not on their account wholly. They are ignorant and insolent enough; but it was to protect my. self against the governments of Europe, who are determined to get possession of my secret by force. I have been," he exclaimed, "twice fired at in one day through that window, and three times attempted to be poisoned. They believed I had written a book containing my secrets, and to get possession of this book has been their object. To baffle them, I burnt all that I had ever written, and I have so guarded the windows with spring-guns, and have such a collection of cumbustibles in the range of bottles which stand at your elbow, that I could destroy a whole regi

ment of soldiers if sent against me." He then related that, as a further protection, he lived entirely in that room, and permitted no one to come into the house; while he had locked up every room except that with patent padlocks, and sealed the keyholes.

while, on the contrary, they witnessed his severe disappointments, at the termination of his most elaborate experi

ments.

On my telling the man that I had been in his room, he seemed much astonished at my boldness; for he assured me, that he carried a loaded pistol in every one of his six waistcoat pockets. I learnt also, from this man, that he has or had considerable property in Jamaica; that he has lived in the premises at Lilley about twenty-three years, and during fourteen of them pursued his alchemical researches with unremitting ardor; but for the last few years has shut himself up as a close prisoner, and lived in the manner I have described.

It would be tedious and impossible to follow Mr. Kellerman through a conversation of two or three hours, in which he enlarged upon the merits of the ancient alchemists, and on the blunders and impertiment assumptions of the modern chemists, with whose writings and names it is fair to acknowledge he seemed well acquainted. He quoted the authorities of Roger and Lord Bacon, Paracelsus, Boyle, Boerhaave, Woolfe, and others, to justify his pursuits. As to the term philosopher's stone, he alleged that it was a mere figure, to deceive the vulgar. He February 22. Day breaks appeared also to give full credit to the silly story about Dee's assistant, Kelly, inding some of the powder of projection in the tomb of Roger Bacon at Glastonbary, by means of which, as was said, Kelly for a length of time supported himself in princely splendor.

I enquired whether he had discovered the "blacker than black" of Appolonius Tyanus; and this, he assured me, he had effected it was itself the powder of projection for producing gold.

Amidst all this delusion and illusion on these subjects, Mr. Kellerman behaved in other respects with great propriety and politeness; and, having unlocked the door, he took me to the doors of some of the other rooms, to show me how safely they were padlocked; and, on taking leave, directed me in my course towards Bedford.

In a few minutes, I overtook a man, and, on enquiring what the people thought of Mr. Kellerman, he told me that he had lived with him for seven years; that he was one of eight assistants, whom he kept for the purpose of superintending his crucibles, two at a time relieving each other every six hours; that Mr. K. exposed some preparations to intense heat for many months at a time, but that all except one crucible had burst, and that he called on him to observe, that it contained the true "blacker than black." The man protested however, that no gold had ever been made, and that no mercury had ever been fixed; for he was quite sure that, if he had made any discovery, he could not have concealed it from the assistants;

Sun rises
sets.

Twilight ends

h. m.

[ocr errors]

.

4 56

6 49

5 11

[ocr errors]

7 4

The daisy, also called herb margaret, begins to flowers and dot the lawns and fields.

February 23.

1792, February 23. Died, full of fame and honors, the great president of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds. He was fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies, and LL. D. of Oxford and Dublin, and moreover a member of the worshipful company of paper-stainers, of the city of London. The latter dignity it may be, in the estimation of some, as important to record, as that he wore a pig-tail.

Sir Joshua was one of the most memorable men of his time. He very early distinguished himself as an artist; and few were so capable of illustrating the theory of the science they professed, He assisted by practice and discourse. Johnson with three numbers of the "Idler," on the different practice of the Dutch and Italian painters. In taste, and in much of the richness and harmony of coloring, he was equal to the great masters of the renowned ages. emplify a variety and a dignity derived from the higher branches of art, which, since Vandyke, had never been represented. They remind the spectator of the invention of history, and the amenity of landscape. Although honored by his

His portraits ex

He

professional contemporaries, courted by the great, caressed by sovereigns, and celebrated by poets, yet arrogance or presumption was never visible in his conduct or conversation to the most scrutinizing eye. His talents of every kind, and his social virtues, rendered him the centre of many agreeable circles. had too much merit not to excite jealousy, and too much innocence to provoke enmity. The loss of no man of his time was felt with more general and unmixed sorrow. His remains were deposited in the metropolitan cathedral of St. Paul. No one better deserved honorable sepulture than the man who, by precept and example, taught the practice of the art he professed, and who added to a thorough knowledge of it the literature of a scholar, the knowledge of a philosopher, and the manners of a gentleman.

Sir Joshua Reynolds was the son of the Rev. Samuel Reynolds. He was born at Plympton, in Devonshire, July 16, 1723. and about the year 1742 placed under Hudson, who, though a poor painter, was the best of his time, and had been a pupil to Richardson, who thus appears to have been Sir Joshua's pictorial grand father. Reynolds went with admiral (afterwards lord) Keppel, to Minorca, in 1749, and thence accompanied him to Italy, where he staid till 1753. At Rome he painted caricatures of some English gentlemen there, with their own consent, which was much the fashion of the day. He particularly painted sort of parody on Raphael's School of Athens, in which all his English acquaintances at Rome were introduced. This picture contains nearly thirty portraits, with the portrait of the possessor, Joseph Henry, Esq., of Straffan, in Ireland. Reynolds returned from Italy in 1753 or 1754, and produced a

He

whole-length picture of lord Keppel, which introduced him at once into the first business in portrait painting. painted some of the first-rate beauties; the polite world flocked to see the pictures, and he soon became the most fashionable painter, not only in England, but in Europe. He then lived in Newport Street, whence he removed to Leicester Fields about 1760. le chiefly employed himself on portraits, because, in a country wnere self-love prefers likenesses of itself, to representations of natural and historical truth, the historical department is not equally eligible. Among Reynolds's best deviations from "head dressing," are his pictures of Venus chastising Cupid for having learned to cast accounts, Dante's Ugolino, a Gipsey telling fortunes, The Infant Jupiter, the calling of Samuel, the Death of Dido, the Nativity, the Cardinal Virtues, &c., for New college Chapel; Cupid and Psyche, Cymon and Iphigenia, Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse, and Hercules strangling the Serpents. He also painted a few landscapes. He did not owe any part either of his fame or his fortune to royal favor; George III. never commissioned him to paint a single picture, nor once sat to him, except in 1771, when he gave his portrait to the Royal Academy. Sir Joshua, Mr. Garrick, Mr. Cumberland, Mr. Goldsmith, Mr Burke, and his brother Richard, Mr. William Burke, and Dr. Bernard, afterterwards bishop of Killaloe, had happened to dine together three or four times at the St. James's Coffee-house, and an epitaph on Goldsmith, which Garrick produced one day, gave birth to Goldsmith's "Retaliation." The lines on Sir Joshua R. are worth transcribing, though the character was left unfinished, by Goldsmith's death:—

"Here Reynolds is laid; and, to tell you my mind,
He has not left a wiser or better behind;

His pencil was striking, resistless, and grand;
His manners were gentle, complying, and bland.
Still born to improve us in every part,

His pencil our faces,-his manners our heart :

To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering;

When they judg'd without skill, he was still hard of hearing;
When they talk'd of their Raphaels, Corregios, and stuff,
He shifted his trumpet and only took snuff."

Sir Joshua was so remarkably deaf as to be under the necessity of using an eartrumpet in company. His prices were, 12 Guineas.

About 1755, for a head,
Soon After, 1760

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

25

ditto

About 1770

From 1779 till he ceased to

paint.

[ocr errors]

35 guineas

50 ditto Half and whole lengths in proportion. Horace Walpole, earl of Orford, in the

advertisement prefixed to the fourth volume of his Anecdotes of painting, justly says, "The prints after the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds have spread his faine to Italy, where they have not at present a single painter who can pretend to rival an imagination so fertile that the attitudes of his portraits are as various as those of history. Sir Joshua had been accused of plagiarism, for having borrowed attitudes from ancient masters. Not only candor, but criticism, must deny the force of the charge. When a single posture is imitated from an historic picture, and applied to a portrait in a different dress, and with new attributes, this is not plagiarism, but quotation; and a quotation from a great author, with a novel application of the sense, has always been allowed to be an instance of parts and taste, and may have more merit than the original. When the sons of Jacob imposed on their father by a false coat of Joseph, saying, Know now whether this be thy son's coat or not?' they only asked a deceitful question-but that interrogation became wit, when Richard I., on the pope reclaiming a bishop whom the king had taken prisoner in battle, sent him the prelate's coat of mail, and in the words of Scripture asked his Holiness, whether_THAT was the coat of his son or not?-Is not there humor and satire in Sir Joshua's reducing Holbein's swaggering and colossal haughtiness of Henry VIII. to the boyish jollity of Master Crewe? Sir Joshua was not a plagiary, but will beget a thousand. The exuberance of his invention will be the grammar of future painters of portraits. In what age were paternal despair, and the horrors of death, pronounced with more expressive accents than in his pic

6

ture of Ugolino? When were infantine loveliness, or embryo passions, touched with sweeter truth, than in his portraits of Miss Price and the Baby Jupiter."

Dr. Johnson says, in the Life of Cowley, "Sir Joshua Reynolds, the great painter of the present age, had the first fondness for his art excited by the perusal of Richardson's Treatise." He adds, "I know no man who has passed through life with more observation than Reynolds-whose observations on all subjects of criticism and taste are so ingenious and just, that posterity may be at a loss to determine whether his consummate skill and execution in his own art, or his judgment in that and other kindred arts, were superior."

A print, engraved by Bartolozzi, was presented to each attendant on Sir Joshua's funeral. The principal figure in it is a beautiful female, clasping an urn; near her is a boy or genius, holding an extinguished torch in one hand, and pointing with the other to a tablet on a sarcophagus, inscribed, Succedit fama, vivusque per ora feretur.*

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

THE SEASON.

* Gents. Mag

Now spring the living herbs, profusely wild," O'er all the deep green earth, beyond the power Of botanist to number up the tribes:

Whether he steals along the lonely dale,

In silent search; or through the forest rank,

With what the dull incurious weeds account,

Bursts his blind way; or climbs the mountain's top,

Fired by the nodding verdure of its brow.

But who their virtues can declare? who pierce, With vision pure, into those secret stores Of health, and life, and joy?

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« ZurückWeiter »